PLANNING COMMISSION

GLADSTONE, MISSOURI

 

October 16, 2006

7:30 pm

 

 

 

 

Present:                                                          Council & Staff Present:

                                                           

                        Ms. Newsom                           Carol Rudi, Councilman

Ms. Alexander                          Wayne Beer, Councilman

                        Mr. Reynolds                           Scott Wingerson, Assist. City Manager

                        Mr. Stanley                              David Ramsay, City Counselor

                        Ms. Suter                                 Melinda Mehaffy, Econ. Dev. Admin.

Mr. Whitton                             Becky Jarrett, Admin. Assist    

Ms. Abbott

Mr. Steffens

Chairman Hill

           

Absent:           Mr. Boor

                        Mr. Shevling

                        Mr. West

                       

                         

 

Item 2 on the Agenda:  Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Chairman Hill led the group in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Item 3 on the Agenda:  Approval of the September 5, 2006 minutes.

 

MOTION:  By Ms. Newsom, second by Mr. Steffens to approve the September 5, 2006 minutes.

 

The minutes were approved as submitted.

 

Item 4 on the Agenda:  Communications from the Audience.

 

None.

 

Item 5 on the Agenda:  Consideration of a Final Plat at 6400 N. Prospect Avenue, (Tower Plaza).  Applicant/Owner:  Northlander Properties, LLC.  File #1288.

 

Mr. Wingerson reported that the applicant is requesting final plat approval for the property at 64th & N. Prospect, which is currently under development.  The plat provides separate development lots, which allows a change of ownership for those separate lots.  Staff is recommending approval with two minor conditions.  One is to remove or further clarify the building setback narrative, which the design engineer is agreeable to.  The other condition is for the developer to submit any applicable deed restrictions or covenants that may apply to the property.  The City would review these covenants to make sure that nothing in those documents would directly conflict with City regulations.  Mr. Wingerson asked if the Commission had any questions for him.

 

MOTION:  By Mr. Whitton, second by Ms. Alexander to approve a Final Plat at 6400 N. Prospect Avenue (Tower Plaza). 

 

VOTE:            Ms. Newsom              Yes     

Ms. Alexander           Yes     

                        Mr. Reynolds             Yes

                        Mr. Stanley                Yes

                        Ms. Suter                   Yes

Mr. Whitton               Yes

Ms. Abbott                 Yes

Mr. Steffens               Yes

Chairman Hill Yes

 

The motion carried.  (9-Yes, 0-No)

 

 

Item 6 on the Agenda:  Update on the Comprehensive Plan.

 

Mr. Wingerson reported that the review plan for the Comprehensive Plan process recently met to interview the first two consultants.  Next week two more consultants will be interviewed, and then the group will forward a recommendation to the City Council.   In his opinion, the two consultants that were interviewed were both qualified, it’s really just a matter of finding the firm that best fits the community. 

 

Item 7 on the Agenda:  Communications from the City Council and the City Staff.

 

Mr. Wingerson thanked the Commission for participating in the MARC Review Planning Process this evening at 6:00 pm.  Hopefully everyone can participate in the next one on the 30th of October. 

 

The final draft of the Gale Communities Master Plan arrived at City Hall today.  The receipt of this document kicks off a series of events.  Staff is in the process of making copies and distributing them.  Gale Communities will present the plan, for information purposes only, to the City Council on October 23rd.  He anticipated that on the following Monday (November 6th) staff would make a presentation to the Planning Commission before publishing it for a public hearing to make it part of the existing 1993 Comprehensive Plan. 

 

Ms. Newsom asked if the presentation for Council would be during study session.

 

Mr. Wingerson replied yes, and that it would probably start around 6:15 pm.

Mr. Wingerson said that another component of the Master Plan is the 68th Street Parkway.  One of the things that the City committed to the residents of Hamilton Heights is that they would start immediately on an alignment study, so staff is trying to hold true to that.  A selection committee will need to be assembled to choose a transportation designer. 

 

Mr. Wingerson gave the Commission an update on the building of 64th Street.  On October 9th, the City Council approved an agreement between the City and the Transportation Development District, (Tower Plaza TDD).  This agreement basically says that the City and the District will work together to get 64th Street re-built.  The developer made great strides to get the street built, but ran into two problems.  One was that there are two property owners that appeared unwilling to sign the easements.  The larger issue was the unanticipated treatment of KCPL, AT&T and the cable company.  Relocating the utilities to rebuild that road is approximately $210,000 if it were to be paid for privately.  The City believes it is a public project and in the City right-of-way and, therefore, the utilities should move without cost to the City or the developer.  In addition to those two reasons, the City also would like to make sure that the street should be built during the summer months when school is out so that Antioch Middle School and Meadowbrook Elementary School are not disturbed. 

 

Mr. Wingerson reported that Ms. Mehaffy, Counselor Ramsay and himself have had some good meetings with Ms. Wolfe’s attorneys regarding Gladstone Plaza.  He should have a better status update in mid-November.

 

The community center is moving along nicely.  The next and final round of bid openings on the large part of the project is October 23rd.   He stressed that the pace of the project is very aggressive, so if anyone sees anything that they want to change they need to say something quickly.  

 

Item 8 on the Agenda:   Communications from the Planning Commission Members.

 

Ms. Alexander made note of the article in the Sunday paper regarding Gale Communities and their project in Lee’s Summit.  She also mentioned that she attended a breakfast for Synergy Services and she is always glad to hear of all the things they are doing since she was a battered wife.  She is also proud that Gladstone is a city that helps them out and thanked them for their support. 

 

Mr. Steffens asked about the stop sign on Brooktree Lane, coming out of The Woodlands subdivision.  He said that seems to be a dangerous area because you can’t see coming down the hill.

 

Mr. Wingerson said he recalls that several years ago The Woodlands Homes Association brought that to the City Council’s attention.  TranSystems did a traffic analysis on it and found out that not only was a four-way stop sign not warranted, but it could be more dangerous. 

 

Councilman Beer added that the study also determined that speed was a factor as well and that TranSystems provided a number of suggestions to calm the speed in the area.  The City ended up narrowing the striping and also having the trees trimmed for better sight distance.

 

Mr. Wingerson also remembered that the school district moved their drop-off/pick-up area to make a safer area for the school kids.

 

Ms. Newsom thanked everyone who helped with Gladfest.  She felt with all the changes that took place this year, it was a good Gladfest.  A huge thanks to Melinda Mehaffy and City staff.  Melinda was the staff liaison and she did a great job.  Ms. Newsom also said that everyone in this room will probably be getting an invitation to the Chamber of Commerce Holiday Awards Banquet.  It is the 40th Anniversary for the Chamber and because the Chamber and the City work very closely together they want to include people involved with the City.  The banquet will be Friday, December 1st at Staley Farms. 

 

Chairman Hill said he would agree with Scott regarding the comprehensive plan; it’s just a matter of finding the best consultant for the community.

 

Item 9 on the Agenda:   Adjournment

 

Chairman Hill adjourned the meeting at 7:59 P.M.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

______________________________________    Approved as submitted _____

Becky Jarrett, Recording Secretary

 

 

______________________________________    Approved as corrected   _____

Brian Hill, Chairman